David Tomassoni

David Joseph Tomassoni (/tɒməˈsoʊni/ tom-ə-SOH-nee; December 5, 1952 – August 11, 2022) was an American politician who served in the Minnesota Legislature from 1993 to 2022. A former member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), Tomassoni left the party to become independent in November 2020 and joined the Minnesota Senate Republican Caucus.

Tomassoni chaired the Senate Economic Development Committee from 2007 to 2010. He then chaired the Environment, Economic Development and Agriculture Finance Division, co-chaired the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR), and chaired the Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation Board (IRRRB) four times. Tomassoni was also vice chair of the Minnesota Amateur Sports Commission.

Tomassoni was born in Bemidji, Minnesota. He graduated from Chisholm High School in Chisholm, Minnesota and received a BSBA from the University of Denver. Tomassoni played professional hockey in Italy for 16 years and for the Italian national team at the 1984 Winter Olympics.

Tomassoni represented District 5B in the Minnesota House of Representatives from 1993 to 2001. He served as an assistant majority leader from 1997 to 2001.

Tomassoni was elected to the Senate in 2000 and reelected in 2002, 2006, 2010, 2012, 2016, and 2020. He was a majority whip from 2001 to 2007.

Tomassoni was elected president of the Minnesota Senate on November 12, 2020, in a rare event where the Senate's Republican majority supported a member of the DFL for Senate president. The move was seen as strategic, given that the slim Republican majority in the Senate could be lost if the Senate president became lieutenant governor. That happened in 2018, when Senate President Michelle Fischbach became lieutenant governor after Tina Smith was appointed to the U.S. Senate.

Three weeks after the 2020 elections, when it was determined that the DFL had not won a Senate majority, Tomassoni and Senator Thomas Bakk announced they had left the DFL to form their own "Independent Caucus." Republican Majority Leader Paul Gazelka welcomed the move and made Tomassoni chair of the Higher Education Finance and Policy Committee in exchange for voting with Republicans on floor votes. This changed the Senate's composition to 34 Republicans, 31 Democrats, and two independents.

Tomassoni and his wife, Charlotte, have three children and lived in Chisholm, Minnesota. He was involved in the insurance business. In July 2021, Tomassoni announced he had been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Tomassoni died of ALS at a hospice in Duluth, Minnesota, on August 11, 2022.